Origin of Topography Divination

“Korea is trying to steal the feng shui or topography divination theory for its own.”

A “topography divination origin controversy” is brewing after the Chinese media reported that Korea is requesting the registration of the topography divination theory in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage.

Chinese netizens claim, “Korea stole the Chinese Dano Festival, and now they’re trying to take away the topography divination theory,” demanding government measures, while Korean netizens argue, “You’d be hard-pressed to find topography divination on Chinese soil, but in Korea it’s everywhere, including resident homes, cemeteries, and even the presidential election campaigns.”

Nevertheless, both the Korean and Chinese governments do not have any plans to register the topography divination theory in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Chinese netizens say that China is where the topography divination theory originated. This would mean that the topography divination theory was passed down from the Baike era, approximately 10,000 years ago. They also claim that topography divination became widespread in Korea only when the Ming dynasty began.

Korean netizens retorted, “The topography divination theory appears in historical documents during the era of Three Kingdoms. Chinese topography divination experts today are studying in Korea and taking the scriptures back with them.”

The Chinese media recently reported, “The National Museum of Korea and a few dozen institutions have been looking to register the topography divination theory in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage since 2003 in Korea, and it will be completed next year.”

However, the National Museum of Korea and the Cultural Heritage Administration have proved that this is false news.

The Cultural Heritage Administration is only planning to apply for the registration of the Chosun Dynasty Royal Mausoleum and the South Coast dinosaur fossils next year, and has no plans for the topography divination theory.

Nonetheless, Chinese topography divination experts reacted by setting up a Chinese Topography Divination UNESCO Cultural Heritage Registration Committee on June 9, 2006.

Nanjing University opened a topography divination training course and is planning to confer topography divination certificates.

The Ministry of Construction of the People’s Republic of China is frowning upon such measures, saying, “We respect the public studying the topography divination culture, but officially recognizing such certificates will be a problem.”

orionha@donga.com